The present invention relates to convertible top covers for boats, commonly called bimini tops, and more particularly to an improved retractable boat top device having an arched canopy assembled for operative attachment to a radar arch or like structure upon the boat deck that is automated in its operation and adapted to maintain an arched configuration during deployment.
In recreational boating, the so-called “bimini top” is a convertible cover erected upon the deck of the boat and made to be deployed at an elevation comfortably above the heads of the passengers. Drawing its name from the Bimini islands in the Bahamas where it was first employed by boaters to provide desired shade from the strong rays of the tropical sun, the standard type of bimini top and those convertible boat covers of the same nature generally comprise a flexible canvas material secured to a foldable support frame that is erected across the deck and pivotally attached thereto. These standard types of foldable bimini tops can be raised when needed or lowered into a substantially flat position upon the deck when not in use or when an overhead obstruction may otherwise require its lowering. Deployment of these foldable bimini tops is often done manually but has been designed to be power driven, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,209,477 to Briedenweg and 6,983,716 to Ankney et al. Regardless of their specific foldable structure or method of operational deployment, the installation and utilization of bimini tops have become increasingly important for the protection of passengers and crew on board boats against excessive sun exposure and the evident risks of skin cancer caused thereby.
Existing framework generally used to construct present bimini top installations includes a system of poles or like rigid members mounted to the port and starboard sides of the boat and made to extend across the deck at a sufficient height level to support the canvas top overhead the occupants. As currently arranged and implemented, these pole systems typically have separate front and rear pole members over which the canvas top is extended and, depending upon the length of the top from fore to aft, one or more additional pole members are needed and disposed between the front and rear poles to firmly support the intermediate section of the top. Although these pole systems may be pivotally mounted to the boat deck so that they can be folded down and lowered out of the way when the bimini top is not needed, the pole members still obstruct a person on board from reaching out over the side of the boat when fishing, docking or mooring the boat and further present an obstacle in boarding and loading equipment onto the deck. While these and other similarly devised implementations of convertible bimini tops have been effective in providing suitable shade protection from the sun when needed, they have not satisfactorily resolved the problems of obstructions and obstacles caused in and around the boat deck by their supporting framework nor have they provided a completely hands free system of operation both in extended deployment and retracted storage of the bimini top.
Furthermore, in implementing a retractable canopy system, particularly one deployed upon a recreational boat, rain water accumulating upon the extended canopy needs to be continually drained off the extended canopy surface, preferably away from the boat deck in a flow direction that will not affect the passengers. Existing prior art retractable canopy systems heretofore adapted to boat operations, while being effective in their deployments, have not satisfactorily addressed this drainage requirement without reducing headroom on board the deck and limiting visibility for driving the boat forward or in reverse during docking.